Although Clinton had carried the state comfortably in
1992, prior to that point Vermont had been one of the most reliably Republican states in the nation, voting Republican in every election from
1856 to
1988 except for the
1964 nationwide Democratic landslide. However Vermont had always favored a
liberal,
secular,
Northeastern brand of Republicanism, and by the 1990s, the Republican Party had become increasingly dominated by
conservative,
Southern, and
Evangelical Christian interests. Consequently, Vermont trended increasingly toward the Democratic Party, and Clinton was able to win an even bigger victory in the state in 1996 than he had in 1992, again sweeping every county in the state.

Clinton's win in 1996 marked the first time in history that Vermont had voted Democratic in two consecutive presidential elections, signifying a long-term
realignment of the state away from the GOP. Since then Vermont has become regarded as one of the safest of
blue states; it has remained Democratic in every election that has followed, often by landslide margins.